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After trialling out sending bite-sized stories via Snapchat on phones at last year's Wellington Fringe, the Making Friends Collective is back with even more friends for Personal Filter 2: The Snappening.

Director and writer Johnny Crawford fills us in on what's snappening.

Friend them at the username personalfilter (or snap the event page image in Snapchat) and get access to a real-time Fringe experience, from your phone.

Tell us a bit about your background.  

I’m 26 years old. I live in Wellington but I grew up in Timaru. When I’m not making theatre, I’m working for the public sector or recording my podcast The Spacey Space.

I studied film at Vic Uni between 2008 and 2011 but I eventually jumped ship to theatre. I found that the comparatively small scale made it much more forgiving of experimentation (and failure). Since then I have been trying to make theatre in Wellington alongside full time work.

Tell us a bit about Making Friends Collective. How and when did you become involved?

In 2012, Adam Goodall, Tony Black, Andy Clarke and I decided to start a theatre company. Adam and I had studied film together and I was flatting with Tony and Andy (both theatre kids). Our first show was Rageface for Fringe 2013. Since then Flinn Gendall and Amy Griffin-Browne have joined us and we’ve staged increasingly ambitious shows.

Tell us a bit about Personal Filter 2: The Snappening

Personal Filter 2 comprises four, free, bite-sized Snapchat stories. Each of these stories will take place over the course of one of the Saturdays during the Fringe festival. This year we’re lucky to be joined by our friends in Women Aren’t Wolves, Apple Box Brand and Discharge.

How does the audience join in and how would you describe the experience to them?

The audience simply needs to friend us at the username ‘personalfilter’ to be able to see our stories. We expect some will give you an opportunity to interact over social media or maybe even in person (we won’t spoil anything but there was a live exorcism last year).

How has it evolved from the 2016 production?

Last year, we told four very different stories but each was spearheaded by someone in the company. By adding different voices to the mix, we’re broadening storytelling possibilities even further. Snapchat is such a unique medium, I’m sure the other companies will bring gimmicks to the table we never thought of.

What are some of the challenges and rewards of delivering a story this way? 

The challenges and rewards both stem from the 10-second limit. It’s challenging to say something meaningful in that time but it’s easier to keep people engaged. One of our main inspirations last year was Snapchat celebrities like DJ Khaled. This year Making Friends Collective is drawing from found-footage horror films.

Are you marketing it on SnapChat? How?

Most people will initially hear about the show on other forms of social media, in the Fringe programme or through word-of-mouth but we will send reminder snaps to our followers (including those who friended us last year) in the lead-up to each story.

What are some of your other recent and upcoming projects?

Most recently Making Friends Collective staged Gavin McGibbon’s Stand Up Love and Sam Brooks’ Wine Lips as a double-bill at BATS. During Fringe 2017, we have another show called Alayne’s Cat Safari which is a promenade piece that allows the audience to see a bunch of nice cats in Wellington.

What's your number one business tip for surviving (and thriving) in the creative industries?

Be receptive to feedback. Even if you don’t choose to take a piece of criticism onboard, there are always opportunities for learning from it. Making Friends Collective tries to debrief after each season and that gives a chance for everyone to share their thoughts on what mightn’t’ve worked.

What’s your big idea for 2017?

I’m deeply unsettled by the rise of Fascism internationally and am going to make an effort to be more engaged with political activism. 

About Johnny Crawford

Johnny Crawford has written and will direct Making Friends Collective's contribution to Personal Filter 2. He has worked on the majority of Making Friends Collective's shows most commonly as a producer but has dabbled in writing, directing and acting. Most recently, he produced the double feature Stand Up Love/Wine Lips at BATS theatre and is also involved in Alayne's Cat Safari, also at Fringe 2017.

About Making Friends Collective

Making Friends Collective is Adam Goodall, Amy Griffin-Browne, Andrew Clarke, Flinn Gendall, Johnny Crawford and Tony Black. The Collective was founded in November 2012 by Goodall, Clarke, Crawford and Black for the production of Rageface in the New Zealand Fringe Festival 2013, for which the company was nominated for Best Newcomers in the New Zealand Fringe Awards that year. The company is an incubation chamber for bold, sincere theatre about us and the world around us. We want to help build an inclusive community of young New Zealand voices, making work that’s vital,  self-critical, fun and audacious in its execution.

Snapchat Stories will take place on the following dates:

11 February - Women Aren't Wolves
18 February - Apple Box Brand
25 February - Discharge
4 March - Making Friends Collective